Fears that up to 200 branches will close in Barclays' rebranding of Woolwich

The Woolwich name will disappear from Britain's high streets after 160 years as part of a shake-up by its parent, Barclays, that will see as many as 200 branches close.

Barclays is also axing 1,200 UK back office and processing jobs over the next two years, it announced yesterday. It was known that the bank was planning significant changes in its retail business, though the speculation was that Barclays was looking to open more outlets rather than cut its branch network by up to 10%.

Barclays, which bought the Woolwich in 2000, yesterday unveiled plans to rebrand all branches of the former building society as Barclays by the end of next year.

Woolwich and Barclays branches that are within 300 metres of each other will be "consolidated" into one building. The bank was reluctant to put a figure on how many branches would close, saying only that this affected "about 10% of the network". However, it is understood that the number of branches that will shut their doors is nearer 200 than 100.

Barclays' reluctance to discuss numbers or talk explicitly about closures may reflect the fact that the bank's infamous axing of 171 branches in one go in 2000 was widely seen as a public relations disaster. Its latest move appears to fly in the face of the trend for banks to announce plans for expanding their branch networks.

Three back office and operations sites - the former Woolwich headquarters in Bexleyheath, Kent, an office in Clacton, Essex, and a Barclays processing centre in Dudley, West Midlands - will close between the end of 2007 and mid-2008. These sites employ a total of 1,200 staff, but a bank spokeswoman said it was expected that the number of employees made redundant would be "significantly fewer" as a result of non-replacement of those who leave in the interim, retraining and redeployment.

Staff at branches earmarked for closure will be moved to the retained premises, which will be fitted with additional counters. "Barclays does not seek or expect any front-line redundancies as a result of these changes," it said.

The bank has consulted the Amicus union over the changes. National secretary Keith Brookes said that while any reduction in staffing was "disappointing", the union was confident that the vast majority of the job cuts would be dealt with through natural attrition and redeployment.

The Woolwich brand is not being lost completely; Barclays insisted it was putting Woolwich "at the heart of [its] UK retail revitalisation ... the Woolwich will become the Barclays UK banking mortgage product brand".

Deanna Oppenheimer, the UK retail banking chief executive, said: "Woolwich will be to Barclays what iPod is to Apple."

Woolwich has 3.8 million customers, and those holding its current or savings accounts will be transferred to equivalent Barclays accounts from next year. Barclays said the moves would give Woolwich customers access to four times as many branches. Woolwich, which was founded in 1847 as the Woolwich Equitable Building Society, currently has 373 branches compared with the 1,656 Barclays sites.

In February, Barclays admitted that the performance in mortgages under the Woolwich brand had been "weak". But yesterday Ms Oppenheimer said: "Results in UK retail banking have shown pleasing signs of progress and we have reported a period of sustained income growth."

By the end of 2007, all customers will be able to use all branches, she added.

Some will wonder why it has taken so long for Barclays to grasp the nettle on integrating its branch networks; as far back as 2000, the bank was indicating it was seriously considering the closure of outlets in locations where there was duplication. The Barclays spokeswoman said there were many areas where Barclays and Woolwich branches were next door to each other.